I still fail to see why this should apply to combat moves only.
I posted incorrectly, the cruiser can move 4 in NCM.
Before we get too far in the idea of what ship can do what, let’s look at what the actually piece in A&A represents. The battleship piece represents a heavy surface fleet that contains mainly battleships and heavy cruisers. It can take a hit and keep on dealing hits out. The cruiser piece represents a lighter surface fleet consisting of heavy and light cruisers, and maybe even a battleship. Note, I did not say light surface fleet. It is only lighter in comparison to a “battleship” piece but it is heavier than a destroyer piece. The destroyer piece represents a light surface fleet consisting of destroyers and light cruisers. It is more adept at seeking and destroying submarines than its counterparts.
That is an argument that worked with AA games before 2004 ( including revised).
A battleship group is only battleships, Cruiser group is cruisers, etc.
However, a cruiser group can represent light and heavy Cruisers, just as a Battleship can represent Fast battleships or Battlecruisers.
USN Wichita class had a speed of 33 knots and an operational range of 12,000 mi. Iowa class Battleships had a speed of 33 knots also and a range of 14,000 miles.
Iowa is a fast Battleship, not even close to the average speed of a normal Battleship. IN fact the 16 Battleships USA had to start the war paced at about 21 knots.
To draw exceptions and put that label on the vast inventory of all battleship types is disengenious. On average the Cruiser is about 8 knots faster.
German Hipper class had speed of 32 knots and operational range of only 7,000 miles while the Bismarck had a speed of 30 knots but with a range of 8,500 mi.
Those are not really “battleships” they are glorified Cruisers created to circumvent the Versailles treaty.
Japanese Tone class did show good speed at 35 knots, but only 8,000 mi operational range. Yamato class battleship had a speed of 30 knots and range of 8,000 mi.
Only two Yamatos, however Japan had many more cruisers operating at faster speeds. Compare the numbers and see.
By comparison of speed the Japanese Yugmo class Destroyer had a speed of 35.5 knots and the US Fletcher class Destroyer a speed of 36.5 knots. Operational range was limited to about 5,000 miles though.
Some destroyers were fast but not as fast as Cruisers and they have horrible range. A turn is about 6 months and a ship with about 5-6 times the range of any other ship should be able to travel farther due to this range.
Also by comparison US Essex class carriers had a speed of 32.7 knots and an operational range of 20,000 miles!
Carriers are fast like cruisers because they are built on cruiser hulls ( for the most part) But this is not a discussion of Carriers because they are priced correctly…
Cruisers by operational range do not deserve any advantage over Battleships or Carriers; they had no more or less. While their tactical speed was in the 32 to 35 knot range, it was certainly not any advantage in a strategical sense compared to 30 to 33 knot battleships and carriers.
Well you might have said “compared to the most elite Battleships and Carriers built, while ignoring the much greater quantities of Cruisers which on average are alot faster.”
Also, those elite ships you indicate at full speed they run out of fuel at an alarming rate. The cruiser being built on a lighter hull have much greater economy of movement and are not typically protecting ships due to lack of range.
Also, this is not about Battleships because they are priced correctly.
And while cruisers were well armed for AA role, most battleships had as many or more AA guns.
Battleships are not escort for carriers. This is why the Cruiser alone can keep pace with a carrier and why frequently you found them in groups. Due to their excellent escort abilities, they created AA gun platforms to shoot down planes so they cant get to the Carriers.
The Battleship on the other hand has AA guns to protect herself. Lastly, fast moving ships are better equipped to fight attacking planes which lend itself that the Cruiser was more effective at fighting them, hence the 1 free plane shot.
There is no logic for cruisers moving faster on a strategic level.
Their is logic based on Historical data and the Cruiser is over priced and if you don’t like the free AA shot, then move 3 at any time might be a good alternative also based on Historical data.
